


Milano2018

by likeablepotatohead



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Gen, Squad, What REALLY happened in Milan, Worlds 2018, i needed this for myself, i wrote this at midnight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-15 02:46:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14150250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likeablepotatohead/pseuds/likeablepotatohead
Summary: In a slightly alternate world where Shoma and Boyang didn't fall in their FS but everyone did the same in italy...





	1. How Twitter reacted

**Author's Note:**

> please dont yell at me- in no way am I belittling what ACTAULLY happened, I just wanted to indulge people.

**Worlds 2018 Mens FS Twitter**

 

 **Jackje Wong** @rockerskating~1h

Up next and last, Nathan Chen! Shoma Uno leads by thin margin against Boyang jin, Alexei Bychenko sits in third.

 

 **satoko olympic potato med...** @icepineapple~1h

SHOOM! sQUAD PODIUM IS COMING NEARER AND NEARER @NATHAN DO YA THIING

 

 **boyangsshoma** @goldenblades~1h

lowkey dissapointed that Boyang might end up with bronze again this year... nathan seems to have his priorities straight this competition, but the podium standard seems high...

 

 **ursula** @ethrealyuzu~2h

YES YOU GO SHOMA! BUT THAT MRGIN THO...!!!

 

 **Jackje Wong** @rockerskating~2h

Shoma Uno JPN

TES 118.52, PCS 91.33, FS 209.85

TOTAL 304.11-barely edges out Boyang Jin for 1st, PCS in this case being his edge!

bit.ly/3JhsOuy #Worldfigure #Milano2018

 

 **turandot slaYS** @chenstricycle~2h

guys...no offence... but idk if I want Shoma to lead after i just witnessed Boyang Jin, skate the best free he's ever had, but the possibility is high

 

 **medvedeva was rob...** @sailorskater~3h

ugh no way with B*yang leading it's like artistry is dying and its just a jumping practice... soon N*than will get in top three and 2/3 of podium would be from jumping practice.... When will judges realize TRUE artistry and not hand out PCS like candy!

 **mens defense squad** @shomatrescinco~2h

@sailorskater hey, its totally okay to believe that judges are wrong, but to say that Boyang doesn't deserve to lead even after that INCREDIBLE free skate is just silly, and his PCS score has actually reflected what he's gotten on average this whole season. The sport is evolving, and if him and nathan don't wave their arms around so sad opera music, it doesn't mean their programs are just jumping practices- newsflash! They all do the same amount of jumping passes! dont do this to them.

 

 **Yuzu 2x Olympic Champion** @parasiansemei~3h

omg legit boyangs performance has me sobbing this was what shouldve happened at the olympics im- [gif.jpg]

 

 **Jackje Wong** @rockerskating~3h

Boyang Jin CHN

TES 121.67, PCS 86.43, FS 208.1

TOTAL 303.95 into 1st- absolutely brilliant display of technicality and artistry, this season will not endbadly for him!

bit.ly/3JhsOuy #Worldfigure #Milano2018

 

 **SHOMA UNO OWNS MY...** @lutzflipedge~3h

guys i can feel it v****** z*** is going to mess up and we are finally going to get a sQuad podium

[Refreshing Feed]

**In case you missed it**

 

 **SQUAD PODIUM IS REAL** @podiumdreams

I would like to thank this whole competition for feeding us with sQuad interactions

[shomanathanboyangthreewayhug.jpg]

[strikeapose.jpg]

[respectformymedalists.jpg]

[banquet.shenannigans.pic]

 **~im so soft~** @yuzujavicricket

@podiumdremas OH MY GOD THESE PHOTOS HAVE KILLED ME....I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

 

 **ISU Figure Skating** @ISU_figure

After a 6 quad filled program, @nathanwchen edges out #BoyangJin and #ShomaUno to become the 2018 Men's World Champion!

 

More Info

ow.ly/Dyqo3kL8j

#WorldFigure #FigureSkating

[img.results.worldfigure]

 

 **larissa** @chensboyang

I cant?? believe? Im crying?? thIS IS SUCH A BLESSED PODIUM LOOK AT THEM ALL SMILEY IM SO EMO WE FINALLY HAVE SQUAD SOLIDARITY ON THE PODIUM

 

 **witchcraft** @funkypotatohead

literally this podium... all hugs and smiles they are actually killing me.... but like when nathan reached out to shoma and hugged him for like 5 second? or when boyang expected handshakes but got hugs from both of them? Ive been blessed today

 

 **WORLD CHAMPION NATHA...** @hyperchens

NATHAN CHEN DID THAT! SIX QUADS! BOYANG JIN 3X WORLD BRONZE MEDALIST< SHOMA UNO 2X WORLD SILVER MEDALIST, NATHAN CHEN 1X WORLD GOLD MEDALIST

 

 **troy** @redskater

yall....weve been praying and finally got this amazing sQuad podium I cant comprehend this...

 

 **Kazuki owns my heart @** teamloveallofthem

OKAY OKAY I CANT THIS IS TOO MUCH @EVERYONE SAYING ____ DESERVED TO WIN, NATHAN WON WITH A PRETTY CLEAN 6 QUAD FS. HIS PROGRAM WAS BEAUTIFULLY SKATED AD I SEE NO EVEIDENCE OF OVERSCORING. ALL MEDALISTS SCORES WERE FAIRLY IN THE SAME RANGE, IM SO PROUD OF HIM AFTER THE OLYS

 

 **Shoma 2x Worlds silv...** @locoturandot

Honestly shoma has gotten silver at almost every majro competition this year... someone give this boy a gold please

 

 


	2. IRL

Back in his hotel room, Nathan chuckled, liking a tweet that made fun of his costume choices- after all, they were pretty lackluster this season. But now, it was over. Odd- he'd never thought about anything past this season.

He'd always had solid plans, with clear and definable goals in reach- but missing the podium in PyeongChang truly threw his plans off. Now, there were too many variables- new rule changes, consistent jumps, the looming pressure of needing to work on his artistry, it was all there, and he needed to find out how to organize it.

Looking at his tag on twitter, it was the same as always. Congratulations, thirstiness, comparisons to Hanyu, the usual dissing of everything he'd achieved so far, he'd gotten used to it- those fans never understood.

One time, he saw a tweet stating that piercing a person's eyeballs would be less painful to watch than him becoming 2022 OGM. Did that sting? A little- or was it alot? He wasn't sure if he'd embraced overwhelming pressure or if he'd realized it didn't matter to him anymore.

Nathan is lost in a deep reverie, over twitter, when he is startled out by a knock on his door.

Odd- he didn't remember any of his friends that weren't incredibly tired after the free skate that actually wanted to hang out with him. Stumbling out of his position on the floor, he makes his way towards the door, while checking that he still looked decent.

He opens the door with a bit more force than necessary- hey, he just won the world championships, being interrupted was NOT on his to do list for the night.

Standing there, the door reveals an over excited looking Boyang, holding an equally less excited looking Shoma by the arm. Any trace of annoyance fades away from Nathan as he looks at his competitors, replacing themselves with confusion.

"What's up!" Boyang says in a voice waay too excited even after winning a bronze medal for the third time. "We're going out, and you're joining us."

"If I get dragged into this, you do too," deadpans Shoma, when he sees Nathan's face turn from confused to uncertain. "It's not like there's anything else for you to do here."

Ouch- that hurt Nathan a bit, partially at the bluntness, partially at the truth. Looking at their expectant faces, he realizes he's been standing there for a long time, Nathan makes either the best or worst decision of his social life. "Alright, where to?"

Mistake or not, there's no going back as he sees Boyang's face get even more excited, if that was humanly possible, and Shoma's face turns a bit less depressed.

"Alright, no time to waste we've already wasted so much time standing here for you to make a choice you already had no say in!" Boyang exclaims, grabbing Nathan by the arms and whisking him out of the hotel room. Pushing him into the elevator, Nathan realizes he's forgotten something pretty significant.

"Hang on," Nathan says, pulling himself out of Boyang's grasp. "If we're going out, I'm going to need a jacket, and you pulled me out of my room before I could get it- theres no way i-"

"We have that covered," Shoma quietly cuts in, pulling out a Team Japan jacket from behind his back. "I stole this from my other teammate, I dont think he would mind if he knew and you'd probably fit it."

Nathan looks down at the ground, hoping it would swallow him whole. Of course, he'd be going out in public in a team Japan jacket with his "rivals." The media is going to have a field day once they're spotted.

Taking a good look at his rivals, he notices that both of them are also donning team Japan jackets. At Nathans raised eyebrow, Boyang's grin turns sheepish. "Well, if we're going out as a sQuad we might as well dress the same..." Boyang trails off, also looking down at the ground.

Taking a deep breath, Nathan lets go of any nervousness he had about this. He needed to make friends, and he wouldn't be lying if he'd said that he'd looked upon Shoma and Boyang laughing during practices, while he watched from a distance. Grabbing the jacket from Shoma's outstretched hand, Nathan pulls it on to the sound of Boyang and Shoma's cheers of victory.

Pulling out his phone, Nathan snaps a selfie of the three of them, carefully positioning it so that all of their Team Japan jackets are being shown. Wherever they were going, Nathan surely couldn't wait and see. Captioning it "team Japan" #sQuad, Nathan posts the photo, and doesn't look back as the elevator stops and he is pulled out into the hotel lobby. 

 


	3. Wandering Around

Boyang loved making friends, competitors and language barriers completely thrown aside, he lived to befriend everyone. Because, when you had more friends, you had more fun, and fun was something you had to have in order to live. Why, Boyang has befriended the great Yuzuru Hanyu, language and competition not a problem for both of them.

But, there were two people Boyang wanted to befriend more than anyone in the word- Shoma Uno and Nathan Chen. Polite smiles and podium hugs weren;t things that satisfied Boyang, he wanted the whole package.

Shoma was quiet, sleepy, but carried himself with a silent determination. Nathan was awkward, but had an air of coolness around him that made him seem untouchable. Watching them constantly at the top in every competition only made Boyang want to scream, "Hey, wait for me," running to climb on top.

If anyone told him in 2017 that he'd be wandering through Italy with both of them, Boyang might have chuckled at the absurdity of it.

But here is was, shivering in the cold Italian night, basic grasp on English, and trying to find a place to eat with both Nathan and Shoma. Boyang was also slightly freaking out, since he didn't think he'd get this far trying to hang out with Nathan and Shoma.

Speaking of the two, it seemed like Nathan and Shoma were lost in their own world, walking at incredibly slow paces whispering to each other while watching the Italian nightlife. How boring- they'd been all around the world, sightseeing was fun, but eating was better.

Seeing as they weren't paying attention to him, Boyang slowed to a complete stop, then waited until they caught up to him. Sneaking behind them, Boyang threw his arms around them, yelling "Walk faster boys, i'm about to eat both of you if we don't get somewhere to eat," into both of their ears.

Boyang watched as both of them jumped in surprise, then watched Shoma nod as he translated what Boyang had just said, and Nathan look around, seemingly to see where they were.

Boyang, with his arms still around Nathan and Shoma, scanned the crowd before spotting a small store still open at this time of night. He didn't know Italian, but seeing a bright sign and multiple assortments of bread in the window was enough to tell him that this store was a bakery.

Gasping in delight, Boyang increased his pace to lightning speed, and pushed his companions towards the bakery. Ignoring their exclamations of where he was taking them, Boyang didn't stop until he reached the entrance of the bakery. Once he reached his destination, he dropped his arms and gestured towards the store, "Food! Hungry! Now!"

Nathan giggled at watching Boyang mime eating to Shoma, even though he knew that Shoma understood what he was trying to explain without his charade.

Entering the store, he nodded politely at the cashier, who looked as if she was desperately trying to ignore the fact that they'd just walked in, and turned his attention down to the assortment of sweets and baked goods displayed beneath him. Deep in thought, he decided he'd try getting one of everything- earlier he'd stolen Zhang's wallet, knowing that he was the only one to bother getting Italian money.

Shoving the wallet into Nathan's hands, Boyang explained his plan, which wasn't a plan but more of a spending spree, "I want everything, you order, since you have most English."

"What-" Nathan spluttered at Boyang's totally reasonable request, "But theres like a million things here!" He said, gesturing at the wide assortment of goods in front if him.

Boyang sighed, again. "There are three of us, we can carry it back if we don't eat it all, and I want to spend Zhang's money"

"Wait wait, are you telling me this isn't even your money and you want to buy every-"

"Do it, I want everything too," Shoma said quietly, effectively cutting Nathan off while looking at him with intensity. "I'm hungry."

At Shoma's words, Boyang felt a chill go down his spine, he'd forgotten that he'd dragged Shoma out while he was in the middle of eating his dinner. These words also seemed to have an effect on Nathan, and Boyang watched as Nathan sighed, seemingly accepting his fate, and walking up to the cashier, who was watching their interaction with mild amusement.

"Can I get um- one of everything you have?" Nathan said to the cashier tiredly, "To-go please."

As expected, the cashier's eyes widened, as she looked around at everything they had to offer and back at Nathan to confirm that he actually wanted ALL of it.

"Yes, I do, take your time please" Nathan said, seemingly understanding the cashier's unsaid question

In a slightly accented English, the cashier said something that sounded like "103.65 Please"

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Nathan said, looking at Boyang who wasn't fazed by the price at all.

"Oh yeah, we can use as much as whats in that wallet," Boyang cheerfully said, "it's not mine anyways," he whispered to Shoma, making sure Nathan didn't hear him.

After Nathan paid, Boyang watched excitedly as the cashier attempted to grab one of every single baked good they had on display, placing them into small boxes and stacking them up. This was going to take longer than what he'd thought.

While waiting, the three of them stood awkwardly in silence. It was then that Boyang realized none of them had actually formally talked to each other for more than 2 minutes. Looking at the other two, he realized he wasn't the only one who'd come to this realization, as both of them were looking around, unsure as if they should just look down, or actually make conversation.

Boyang broke the ice (figuratively).

"So, how are those quads?"

Nathan's head whipped up at lightning speed, and Shoma looked semi-interested. This, apparently, was the correct question.

10 minutes later, the bakery was filled with giggles, and stories about how Shoma once managed to skate with his boots on the wrong feet without noticing for 10 ten minutes, and how Nathan once broke his hand by literally punching the ice.

Wiping the tears forming in his eyes away from laughter, Boyang saw around a 5 foot tall pile of white boxes, and a very annoyed looking cashier standing next to it. Looking at her face, he could tell she did not appreciate 3 boys from "team Japan" ordering everything in her bakery, and causing a loud commotion.

Sheepishly, he pointed to the boxes, "let's grab these and go, before she kills us!"

"Wow Shoma, those boxes are almost as tall a-"

Shoma kicked Nathan in the leg, effectively cutting off what he knew he was about to say.

Asking for bags, he evenly split the boxes into three bags, then the three of them headed along their way, carrying their expensive Italian goods, and Zhang's significantly lighter wallet.


	4. Milano

Shoma was confused. Here he was, out in public, carrying a huge bag full of Italian goods, with two people he considered rivals, and he will still hungry. With all of these underlying factors Shoma should be irritated- so why wasn't he?

Maybe it was because Shoma actually enjoyed his company, oh Yuzu would be so proud of him. It wasn''t like he'd ever disliked Nathan or Boyang, actually he was on good terms with both of them, since he had got point out all of Nathan's good qualities in the press conference earlier, and he'd shared the podium with both of them more than the times he hasn't. Shoma just never thought they could form a friendship considering how close they were in competition.

He remembers enjoying this incredibly good steak with his teammates, when all of a sudden, Boyang appeared seemingly out of no where. Shoma tried ignoring him, but had to turn to him when he noticed that all of his teammates were all staring at him.

"Hey, Shoma's going out with me for a bit," Boyang told his teammates, an innocent smile plastered on his face. "I'll take good care of him," He continues, while pulling Shoma out of his chair.

During this exchange, none of his teammates seemed to notice Shoma's indignant response.

"Alright, have fun!" Wakaba said, dismissing both of them with a wave of her chopsticks.

Shoma also remembers Boyang asking as to where his hotel room, and once arriving told him his game plan: get Nathan Chen to hang out with them and get coordinating outfits.

At first, Shoma opposed this plan, surely Nathan was busy, and Shoma was tired. 2 minutes of staring at Boyangs dejected puppy dog face, Shoma relented.

"Fine, we can just steal some of my team's jackets, they won't notice." Truth is, they probably would, but Shoma didn't care anymore at this point.

Back to the present, the sQuad was currently heading towards the Duomo Cathedral, eating probably half of the baked goods they bought on their way, chatting about quads. 

Shoma smiled as he bit down on- something, he wasn't sure what it was, but it tasted awesome. Looking at Boyang and Nathan, he listened in on their quad lutz discussion.

"Dude, I swear someday you're going to hit the boards"

"Well, I already have, it was pretty awesome"

"No way, now I feel like I have to jump into the boards as a sign of solidarity!"

Shoma sorted, "Yeah, if you can jump high enough for that to happen."

Looking over, he silently high fived himself for causing Nathan Chen, GPF 2017 winner, US national champion, and 2018 World Champion to fall into stunned silence, and for sending Boyang Jin into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Nathan, giving up on finding a suitable comeback, dropped his head. "I'm working on it."

"it's okay, if you spun as fast as your current quad jump height, if you jumped far enough to hit the boards you'd probably be able to do a quint!" Boyang said, patting Nathan's back sympathetically.

At the mention of quints, Shoma shuddered. He remembered Yuzu talking about quints, with an incredibly intense look. Looking back at Boyang and Nathan, he saw the former with the same expression that he saw on Yuzu, and the latter with an equally devious but more excited expression. Even though they were a sQuad, sometimes Shoma thought he was the most sane member of the group.

Stopping in his tracks, Shoma looked up to see the cathedral. Words couldn't explain how beautiful Shoma thought it looked, seeing it at night when the moonlight illuminated the castle made it seem ethreal.

Meanwhile, Boyang and Nathan were still mulling over the possibility of a quint if they added Nathans spin rate and Boyang's jump height.

"I'm just saying that if that were possible you could do a 5t, 4t, then 3t combination and have it go across the full lengt- " Nathan's absurd theory was cut off as he looked up at the cathedral. "Wow, it looks like there IS something interesting in Italy!"

Boyang dug into his pocket to grab his phone, then proceeded to take what seemed like a million selfies of himself in front of the cathedral, each one with a different but dorky facial expression.

Finally, he pulled Shoma and Nathan into his selfies, and proceeded to take what seemed like a million more selfies. Nathan did his usual Hypebeast hand pose, and shoma kept a straight face, channeling his inner "i want to go home" face.

Looking at Nathan, Shoma couldn't help but giggle as he saw the same pose Nathan did when he had to take pictures.

_Snap!_

"This one's a keeper!" Boyang exclaimed, while showing the photo to Shoma.

Looking at it, Shoma was surprised to see his face mid-laugh, with Nathan and Boyang's faces reactions to Shoma laughing.

Getting some stranger to take their photo together, Shoma genuinely smiled- realizing that maybe friendship and rivalry could exist, even in figure skating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter, probably last chapter, thank you for joining me on my 4 day spring break writing dump!


	5. end

**Instagram**

 

**[PHOTO: Nathan, Shoma, and Boyang are all together in an elevator, the camera positioned so that all their jackets show a clear Japanese flag]**

**nathanwchen** \- "team Japan" #sQuad

**Show all 1,276 comments**

**alex_kambam** \- #teameuropeanunion 2022 team event champions

**karebears8** \- omg are you smiling??? omg too good they can keep you

**chenglasses** \- OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU GUYS

**isufigureskating** \- Nothing but respect for OUR medalists!

**1j0b0y3** \- Thank you!!!!! <3

 

**[PHOTO: Boyang, Nathan, and Shoma all sleeping on the floor, surrounded by open boxes of baked goods]**

**mishage8** \- Anyone want to tell me why I found the podium passed out on my hotel floor?

**Show all 347 comments**

**1j0b0y3** \- Secret!

**nathanwchen** \- No explanation needed tho

**_team.yuzu.life_** \- gUYS YOU CANT DROP BOMBS LIKE THIS AND NOT EXPLAIN

 

**[PHOTO: Shoma is laughing, while Nathan is smiling looking at Shoma, Boyang is smiling at the camera]**

**[PHOTO: Nathan, holding a piles of boxes that cover his face, while Shoma laughs at him]**

**[PHOTO: All three of them, smiling at the camera]**

**1j0b0y3** \- fun with friends! *heart emojis*

**Show all 2,586 comments**

**nathanwchen** \- *heart emojis*

 

Twitter

 

**denise** @frozenquads

R.I.P. figure skating fandom, cause of death, sQuad Italy outing

**i love shoma** @bumbleyuzu

@frozenquads HONESTLY IF WE DIE THIS IS HOW IT HAPPENS BECAUSE HONESTLY THOSE PHOTOS OF THEM RESTORED MY FAITH IN HUMANITY

**uncle squad** @killerskates

@frozenquads @bumbleyuzu tbh I would sell all of the men's field for another podium like this...

 

**semei step sq** @icezamboni

CONSPIRACY THEORY!!!! BOYANG JIN FORCIBLY DRAGGED NATHAN CHEN AND SHOMA UNO TO INTERACT BECAUSE HE SECRETLY KNOWS HOW TO KILL ALL OF US

 

**Polly Ci** @greatofallskates

i cant belive not even a month after we stopped screaming about boyang and yuzus friendship boyang already ended this new friendship to start one with shoma and nathan

 

**WORLD CHAMPION NATH...** @figurepopping

wow i love shimmer united, nature chance, and boing grin, the three members of the sQuad

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That ends it, but im hoping to write more in the future! Ci


End file.
